Antismoking messages and current cigarette smoking status in Somaliland: results from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2004

We used data from the Somaliland Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) of 2004 to estimate the prevalence of smoking. We also assessed whether being exposed to anti-smoking media, education and having discussed with family members on the harmful effects of smoking were associated with smoking. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess these associations. Current smoking was defined as having reported smoking cigarettes, even a single puff, in the last 30 days preceding the survey (main outcome).Altogether 1563 adolescents participated in the survey. However, 1122 had data on the main outcome. Altogether, 15.8% of the respondents reported having smoked cigarettes (10.3% among males, and 11.1% among females). Factors that were associated with reported non-smoking were: discussing harmful effects of smoking cigarettes with their family members (OR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.52, 0.71); being taught that smoking makes teeth yellow, causes wrinkles and smokers smell badly (OR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.52, 0.74); being taught that people of the respondent's age do not smoke (OR = 0.81, 95% CI 0.69, 0.95); and having reported that religious organizations discouraged young people smoking (OR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.60, 0.82). However, exposure to a lot many antismoking messages at social gatherings was associated with smoking. Exposure to antismoking print media was not associated with smoking status.A combination of school and home based antismoking interventions may be effective in controlling adolescent smoking in Somaliland.Tobacco use is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Tobacco's contribution to ill health is projected to rise if current smoking trends are not reduced across the world [1]. Although much of the long-term effects of smoking are observed in adulthood, the majority of smokers initiate the habit of smoking as adolescents.There is a growing body of literature on adolescent tobacco use. Much of the research on the estimate of the prevalence and associated factors